Corner View: Positive thought for bad moments

Her smile is my remedy to any bad moments. Whenever I feel down, she makes all dark clouds to go away. 

For more Corner Views, please visit lovely Francesca.

If you like to sip and knit...

...you might like this funny tea pot then:

(seen in a tea house/coffee shop in Edinburgh)

Strawberries and peaches hat: free pattern.

I had some yarn left over from this summer cardi and decided to knit a matching hat for my daughter. I'm currently trying hard to use all remaining yarn in my stash, especially all the small and odd left over balls of yarn. For this summer hat I used only half a hank of pretty Araucania cotton. It was a super quick project as well and I decided to share my notes with other knitters here.

 STRAWBERRIES AND PEACHES HAT.

 *** project notes ***

Size: 18-24 months

Yarn: Araucania Pomaire Multy, circa half a hank (83m)

Needles: dpn 4mm/ US6, circular 3.75mm/ US5

Gauge: 17sts on larger needles in the round = 10cm

Abbreviations:

st st: stockinette stitch

dpn: double pointed needles

ssk: slip two stitches knit wise (one at a time), then move them back onto your left needle and knit them together through the back

kfb: knit stitch front and back

Using provisional method cast on 80 sts. 

Spread stitches evenly on 4mm dpn (20 sts on each needle).

Join in round and place marker to indicate the beginning of each round.

Knit in st st until your piece measures 9 cm.

Next round: *knit 8 stitches, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 7 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 6 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 5 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 4 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 3 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 2 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: knit 1 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Cut yarn and pull it tightly through remaining stitches.

Now go back to the base of your hat.

Remove scrap yarn that you used for provisional cast on, placing the stitches evenly on 4mm dpn.

Knit one round.

Next round: purl

Next round: change to 3.75mm circular needles and kfb all your  stitches (160 sts)

Knit 6 rounds.

Next round: cable bind off which will create lovely picot edging.

Cable bind off: cast off 2 sts, *move stitch from right needle to the left one and cable cast on 3 sts,  cast off 5 sts, repeat from * until all sts are bound off.

Weave in loose ends and block the hat gently.

I hope my notes help someone to knit this summer hat for their little ones :)

***Copyright notice: These are my personal pattern notes and they belong to me. I've written them down for personal and non-profit use only. They can be used to knit for charity but they cannot be used to knit garments for commercial purposes. Thank you!***

Corner View: On my wall.

The flat that we moved in here came fully furnished, including prints on the walls in each room, even our bathroom. I didn't like some of them so I removed them. I'm planning to have some of G's portraits printed on canvas and hang them on those empty hooks. But I do like that one print  in the photo above. It hangs in on our bedroom wall. I think it's kind of dreamy.

Thank you Elsa for this week theme.

For more Corner Views, please visit lovely Francesca.

***

PS I'm sharing a free pattern for a summer hat over on my knitting blog, here :) Enjoy!

Sea treasures.

When I woke up this morning, I opened the window as wide as possible and took a deep breath of fresh air. I could feel the sea... And to the seaside we went, G. and me, following the breeze and sound of seagulls.

I've never seen a beach as wide as this one. G. started running towards the water immediately. She was so excited! The beach was covered with medusas (medusae?) and other little sea creatures. We took a long walk, picking up seashells. There was plenty of them, half buried in wet sand. It reminded me of my childhood holidays at the Baltic seaside when I collected seashells with my sister. G. was overjoyed. We've collected quite a lot and next time we will definitely take a bucket and pick up some more. They will make a great decorative detail in our bathroom. I also have an idea how to use them on a rainy afternoon to keep my little girl busy. 

We had such a joyful morning. When I looked at G. happily running on the beach, picking up pebbles and seashells I understood what is so great about having children. They let us re-live happy moments of our own childhood. Something I thought was gone forever. 

***

Ps Thank you all for your nice comments on my previous post. Your kind words always make me happy :)

Have a great weekend!

FO: Strawberries and peaches.

Today I finally finished this summer cardi for my daughter. Simple, seamless and sweet like strawberries and peaches on a hot sunny day. I am so pleased with the final result. I was worried it was going to be too small but I can see it fits little G. perfectly and I think she will wear it a lot. She looks pretty cute in it, doesn't she?

Project notes:
Yarn: Araucania Pomaire, 1.2 skeins
Needles: 4mm/ US6
Ravelry project page

The weather was marvellous today, warm and sunny with perfectly blue sky. We enjoyed staying in the park most of the afternoon and the photo session went very smooth.

I particularly like the picot edging: I think this time I finally got it right. It was worth to go through the pain of time consuming cable cast off...  

Free spirit... She runs like Phoebe form "Friends" :)

Corner View: M is for...

...moving...

...from one capital....

...to another.

We are still in the process of settling down, unpacking boxes, finding ourselves in a completely new place, dealing with post-moving mess (three boxes with some books, DVDs and external hard drive were lost by the moving company and there's no hope they will ever be found...). 

We're loving it here. Everything is so different, new to us and exciting and the only downside so far is the weather: so cold, rainy and windy. Unpredictable and capricious. It feels like it's already autumn here. But the city is beautiful and there is so much to explore out there. 

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For more Corner Views, please visit Francesca.